Abstract: Disclosed is a sheeted, baked, and fried snack chip formed by cooking grain in a heated cooking solution to form cooked grain; mixing the cooked grain with masa flour while the cooked grain is still moist to form a hybrid mix; hydrating the hybrid mix to form a dough; sheeting the dough to form a dough sheet; cutting chip-shaped dough pieces from the dough sheet, and then baking and frying the chip-shaped dough pieces to form the final snack chips. The grain may be pre-soaked prior to cooking. The grain may also be colored with a colorant to impart a color to the cooked grain that makes it visually distinct from a primary color of the dough. If a colorant is used, it may be accomplished in association with the pre-soaking step or in association with the cooking step. The grain may be rice.

Abstract: The disclosed method relates to processing high moisture content vegetables, such as onions. The method involves slicing the onions, applying a dry coating to the sliced onions without using a moisture-based batter, frying the dry coated onions to a moisture percentage of about 8%, and then drying the fried onions to a moisture percentage of 1% to 1-2% The slicing step is ideally accomplished with a corrugated blade in order to provide each onion slice with an enhanced surface area for enhanced retention of a dry coating, and for shortening the frying and drying time even more than is possible by eliminating the use of a moisture-based batter.

Abstract: A container for protecting a fragile food product during transport and display is constructed from sheet material such as paperboard or the like. The container is formed by folding the sheet material into an open-ended box sized to accommodate the fragile food product inside. End flaps extending from the sides of said box are folded angularly inward and preferably lock in an inwardly folded position to secure the fragile food product inside the container. A retention band is preferably placed around the container and cinched by heat shrink or other method to further secure the end flaps in their inwardly folded position and reduce the movement of the fragile food product therein. Foot tabs are preferably included on the bottom of the container to allow the container to be shipped or displayed upright on a flat surface while maintaining clearance between the fragile food product and the flat surface.

Abstract: A package includes a protective band having a cavity for receiving a fragile food product unit. A wrap material is tightly secured around the food product unit and the protective band to form a package. The protective band may have alternating narrow segments and wide segments to ensure that the wrap material keeps the top and bottom extremities of the food product unit inside the protective band and spaced from the upper and lower edges of the wide segments of the protective band.

Abstract: A packaging assembly for packaging brittle food products such as taco shells and tostada bowls is provided. The package has a generally L-shaped backing assembly into which the food product is inserted. A transparent overwrap covers the entire package. The L-shaped cardboard backing assembly is a three-layer cardboard assembly having an inner corrugated cardboard layer and top and bottom thin cardboard layers with the top and bottom thin layers preferably capable of receiving printed graphics. In a preferred embodiment, the upper and lower thin cardboard layers are formed from a single unitary cardboard sheet which is folded over onto the corrugated sheet to form a sandwich-type three-layer structure. The resulting package supports and protects the tortilla products from damage, yet allows a substantial portion of the tortilla products to be viewed by a consumer, allowing the consumer to quickly verify that the tortilla product has not been damaged or spoiled.